


Not All Scars Are Physical

by deathlykrait



Category: Naruto
Genre: F/M, Hot bath, NejiTen Month
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-04
Updated: 2018-09-04
Packaged: 2019-07-07 00:46:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15897480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deathlykrait/pseuds/deathlykrait
Summary: “You were staring at me,” stated Neji casually, in his deep baritone.“I wasn’t,” denied Tenten, mumbling under her breath. She honestly wasn’t. Out of the corner of her eyes, she noticed the heavy scar on his chest and immediately, she felt sick to her core. A chill ran down her spine, despite the heat of the water. The ‘what if’ remained in her head despite the fact that he was here now. He had died. His revival was honestly a miracle and his recovery was a huge blessing. Her eyes met his, and he immediately knew something was off





	Not All Scars Are Physical

 

 

Tenten couldn’t help but stare. Though the steam from the hot spring swallowed almost everything around her, Tenten couldn’t help but look at Neji. He was leaning back, head lazily resting on the edge of the hot spring. His eyes were distant as he looked up into the sky. Tenten assumed that he was just tired from the mission.

 

It wasn’t like she was staring at him like a creep or a pervert. It was anything but that. Actually, this was the first time that Tenten had seen the scars on his body after the war. The big wound stretched from across his chest to his abdomen; which was already adorned with the scars he got when he was a genin. He had acquired his first big scars during the Kidoumaru fight and that was the first time that he’d put his life in danger to protect his friends. Over the years he’d constantly risked his life for his comrades and learned the meaning of friendship. But nothing too serious had happened. Not until the war. Tenten still remembered seeing him impaled with the wooden spears as he tried to protect Naruto and Hinata.

 

 The echo of Hyuuga Neji’s death being announced was still there in her ears.

 

But he’d been revived. Brought right back to life. And now he was the same as before, but only with terrible scars across his chest and back as a reminder of grim times. Everything was pretty normal now and Team Gai had started going on missions again, with the exception of their crippled teacher. Guess it didn’t make much sense to call them Team Gai when Gai himself was never with them. But they didn’t change the name because who would they be if they removed the name of the sensei that taught them everything?

 

Tenten and Neji had just completed a simple delivery mission earlier than expected and were now resting at a mixed hot bath. It was just a normal mission, like any other that they were assigned before the war.

 

Right. Everything was normal. Lee, Neji and Tenten trained together every day. It’s just that sometimes Neji would feel a ghost of a pain after taking a hit in the chest and get shocked momentarily. It’s just that Lee was gentler with his kicks while fighting Neji. It’s just that Tenten scolded Lee a bit more than usual when he landed a blow too hard on Neji. It’s just that no one ever mentioned the fear they saw in Tenten’s eyes when Neji and Lee was fighting. It’s just that they didn’t talk about all the things that needed to be said after the war. It’s just that Gai didn’t mention youth as often. It’s just that Lee and Gai didn’t compete at the same level as they used to since Gai couldn’t walk anymore. Yes, everything was _normal._

 

Tenten breathed in and out slowly while counting to ten. She didn’t want to think too much about what might have happened had Neji… She couldn’t even say it. She didn’t want to. She never let her mind wander on that topic for more than 30 seconds. But now that Neji was before her and she could see his scars, she couldn’t help but wonder – what if things had gone wrong? Her eyes moved up his strong abdomen and once again took in the scar on his toned chest. Her eyes wandered up his wide neck and met his pale silver eyes that were staring right at her.

 

Immediately, she averted her eyes, feeling embarrassed at being caught staring at him. It wasn’t as if she was ogling him, she was just deep in her thoughts. Slowly, she turned to him and saw his eyebrow cocked, an amused expression on his face. He moved towards her and came to a rest at her right. Tenten slipped deeper into the water, sheepish at the close proximity.

 

“You were staring at me,” stated Neji casually, in his deep baritone.

 

“I wasn’t,” denied Tenten, mumbling under her breath. She honestly wasn’t. Out of the corner of her eyes, she noticed the heavy scar on his chest and immediately, she felt sick to her core. A chill ran down her spine, despite the heat of the water. The ‘what if’ remained in her head despite the fact that he was here now. _He had died._ His revival was honestly a miracle and his recovery was a huge blessing. Her eyes met his, and he immediately knew something was off.

 

Perhaps it was  because they had been teammates for so long or perhaps it was because he paid special attention to her that he knew when she was sad. He didn’t like seeing her sad but he couldn’t do much about it. He wasn’t a particularly humorous guy. So he did the one thing he knew how to do. He teased her.

 

“I didn’t think you were so shameless Tenten,”  he said in a playful tone. “Ogling me so obviously! I know that I am attractive but…”

 

He trailed off as soon as he saw a big, fat tear roll down her cheek. His trick had backfired right onto him. He panicked slightly. Tenten was a hardy girl and not one to cry so easily. In the seven years that they had been together, he could count on one hand, the number of times he’d seen her cry. And it had usually been at very serious things such as when Lee broke his limbs, when he was injured after the Sasuke retrieval mission, when Tenten broke her hand once and it hurt too badly, when she said she missed her parents… never had she just cried randomly.

 

“Hey, what’s the matter?” he asked gently, touching the elbow of her hand that was wiping off the tear. Another one dripped down in its place and she kept wiping away at it. But the tears were unending and her efforts were in vain.

 

“Tenten, please talk to me,” pleaded Neji, as he stood there looking at her vulnerable figure. “What is the matter?”

 

“I – I don’t know… it’s just that these thoughts of you dying keep showing up in my mind and… I don’t know what to do about it. It’s so stupid. You’re here but I can’t help but be scared,” replied Tenten.

 

Neji didn’t know how to respond to that. He honestly wasn’t used to people caring for him. “I am deeply sorry if I’ve worried you Tenten. It wasn’t my intention to do so,” he said softly. Tenten nodded slightly but lowered her eyes and stared at the water before her. Neji furrowed his eyebrows and  manoeuvred himself in front of her, so that she was standing between his body and the edge of the hot spring.

 

He wanted her to look into his eyes but she refused to do so. Slowly, he grabbed her hand and placed her palm on his chest. “I’m right here, aren’t I?”  he whispered softly.

 

Tenten looked up, daring to let her hands run across the scar on his body, down to his upper abdomen. “You’re here,” she said slowly.

 

“I’m here,” he replied, “Team Gai is forever, isn’t it?” he said, quoting something Lee had said before the war.

 

“But you died. You decided to leave us.” The ‘ _you picked Hinata over us’_ remained unspoken. But Neji heard it anyway.

 

“I couldn’t help it. I did what I had to do. I couldn’t just have let her die. I know that you would have done the same thing in my place, Tenten,” he said. “I have a duty to my family. But my heart truly lies with Team Gai and with _you_. You know it.”

 

“It’s too late to say that Neji. I don’t know what to believe anymore,” said Tenten softly, brown eyes meeting his silver ones, her tears long dried. Neji’s forehead creased further as if he was slightly annoyed by the fact that she wouldn’t accept his sincerity. What was he to have done? He couldn’t have let his sister die, but on the other hand, he didn’t want to leave his comrades either. He didn’t know what to do to convince Tenten of his sincerity.

 

Tenten’s breath hitched in her throat when he rested both his hand on the sides of the pool, trapping her completely. The proximity of their bodies now wasn’t appropriate at all, especially considering the fact that they were both _naked._ Tenten saw a muscle in his jaw tighten as his eyes wandered to her lips. Her hand was still on his chest where he had placed it earlier and she made no move to remove it.

 

It wasn’t as if all of it happened very fast. He slowly inched towards her lips and as soon as they made contact, she tensed up. Her heart beat picked up and her gut tightened. She had been waiting for this moment for so long that she simply forgot to kiss him back.

 

He pulled back, confused at why she didn’t respond to his kiss. Tenten’s face was burning and her head was spinning. It was as if the room had started to boil; as if her very blood had started to boil. Maybe she had been inside the hot water for too long. Quickly, she grabbed a towel from the side, and pushing Neji aside, went right out of the hot bath.

 

Neji was unsettled by her weird reaction and wondered if he’d stepped out of line. But all these thoughts disappeared as soon as he saw the blush on Tenten’s face as she made her way out of there.

 

 

 


End file.
